Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves and Mary-Alice Culhane in Passion Fish, she is also well known for her performance as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, the President's wife in Independence Day, and for her starring role in Donnie Darko as the title character's mother. McDonnell was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and raised in Ithaca, New York. After graduating from the State University of New York at Fredonia, she attended drama school... and joined the East Coast's prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company, with which she worked for over 20 years. McDonnell is married to Randle Mell, who is also an actor. They have two children, Olivia and Michael. In a question and answer session for SyFy regarding her role as Laura Roslin, she was asked if any of her character's political views caused her any discomfort because of her own views.
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